1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to the handling and stowage of radioactive sources, and more particularly to a single device which may be used to manipulate radioactive sources and also to serve as an inner container for storing radioactive sources in a shielded container.
2. Description of the Prior Art
In the field of nuclear physics it is the general practice to test and calibrate nuclear instrumentation through the use of radioactive sources of predetermined emission rates. These sources are often in the form of an emitting substance encapsulated within a metal billet in the form of a right circular cylinder. The sources may be emitters of neutrons or hard radiation such as gamma rays. In either event, the intensity of the radiation being emitted by the source will be known. The radioactive sources will be used in various ways depending upon the nature of the instruments being tested or calibrated.
Problems will arise in the manipulation and stowage of the radioactive sources for obvious reasons. Manifestly, human operators cannot handle these radioactive sources directly because of the repeated exposure to excessive radiation. In the past, radioactive sources have been handled by means of extensible tongs when being moved from stowage in shielded containers to test equipment and vice versa. The use of such tongs reduces the amount of radiation to which the operator is exposed to acceptable levels by virtue of the inverse square law. However, such tongs in time become themselves radioactive and thus pose an additional stowage problem.